


Tell that boy I'll leave you alone now

by caimani



Series: Prompts for Werewolf TAI... [2]
Category: Cobra Starship, The Academy Is...
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Vampires, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-19 15:32:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11316327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caimani/pseuds/caimani
Summary: 2. ComplicatedThe aftermath of the final events ofHot American Summer, from Gabe's perspective.





	Tell that boy I'll leave you alone now

**Author's Note:**

> **BEFORE READING, PLEASE NOTE: This has some major spoilers for Hot American Summer. This fic really won't make much sense if you don't read that first.

Gabe is gently re-applying the silver burn cream onto Butcher’s injuries. Bill is continuing to ignore Gabe’s presence, facing away from him as he takes care of Mike’s burns. The silence is awkward between them, filled only with the sounds of Butcher and Chislett softly whining in pain. 

Mike is still unconscious. Gabe is really worried about him, and he’s sure that Bill is falling to pieces inside.

A few minutes ago, Tony finished taking care of Chislett and left, giving Gabe an apologetic look as he exited the bus. 

Gabe takes a careful breath. “I’m glad you’re all okay. I’m. I’m glad we found you in time.” 

Bill’s head whips around and he glares at Gabe with reddened eyes. “In time?” he says hoarsely. “If I wasn’t with _you_ last night--”

A loud wolf’s snarl suddenly sounds in the bus. Gabe and Bill both jump at the noise. Bill looks back down at Mike, who is starting to stir.

“He’s awake!” Gabe gasps.

“Mike!” Bill says, moving so he’s kneeling directly in front of Mike’s face. The wolf’s eyes are still shut, but his body is twitching. “Mike, it’s okay, you’re safe. We’re all here.”

Butcher and Chislett sit up and watch intently. Gabe stands, but doesn’t approach Bill. There’s not a lot of room in the bus and he doesn’t want to get in the way of the band. He gets it, they need to hold each other and remind themselves that they’re all okay. He still wants to help in whatever way he can, though.

“Should I get Tony?” Gabe asks. “Or Pete?” Pete’s still in the back room with Sisky. He said he needed the extra space to surround Sisky with weird rocks and dried herbs that he promised would help with the healing process. Bill and Gabe didn’t question it, considering that the weird cream Pete mysteriously whipped out was working so well on the burns.

Bill shakes his head at Gabe’s questions and leans closer to Mike. “Mike! Can you hear me? Mike! Mike, it’s okay!”

Mike’s head moves from side to side and he growls. Bill bites his lip and sits closer to Mike. He reaches out and holds Mike’s head, stroking firmly. Reassuring him, Gabe realizes, because the last thing the wolves saw was that horrifying scene in the woods. Earlier, both Butcher and Chislett were pretty freaked out until Bill told them Sisky was okay.

Bill leans over Mike. His hands tremble as he keeps petting Mike’s neck and back. Butcher and Chislett draw nearer too, leaning against Bill and each other.

Now Gabe feels less like a supportive friend and more like an outsider. He feels like he’s seeing something incredibly intimate that isn’t meant for him. He takes a half step back. “You want me to--”

“No.” Bill looks away from Mike. There’s relief in his expression, but still so much anger. Anger directed at Gabe, because obviously Bill can’t yell at the hunters. Who knows where they are now; when they rescued TAI… late last night, they just left the hunters where they were. 

“Gabe, please just… just leave.”

Gabe shuts his mouth. 

Bill closes his eyes and shakes his head. “I. I don’t.”

 _I don’t want you here._ Gabe glances at Mike, who’s struggling to get to his feet. 

“I can’t do this,” Bill says through gritted teeth. He twists his face into a glare again. “Stay out of here. Just. Get out. Stay out.”

Gabe nods slowly. What else can he do? Insist on staying and pushing Bill into an argument? This isn’t the time for that. So he relents. 

“...yeah. Okay.”

He almost walks straight into Ryland, Alex, and Nate when he steps out of the bus. They’re gathered in a cluster right outside the door.

“They’re okay, right?” Nate says quickly.

“What’s Pete doing in there?” Ryland asks.

“How’s Bill holding up?” Alex says.

Gabe sighs. “They’re all okay. Going to be okay, anyway.”

Nate, Ryland, and Alex all light up.

“That’s great!” Ryland exclaims, clapping Gabe on the back. Gabe smiles. 

It _is_ great. They won against those hunters, using their numbers to overwhelm whatever contingencies or plans those hunters might have had. Maybe it would have been good to learn something about them, but their main priority was getting The Academy Is… back, safe and whole. And they’re back. They’re all awake now. And, despite how scared he was for the wolves and Bill earlier, Gabe trusts Pete’s promises that they’ll all be good as new within a couple days.

“Pete’s doing something weird,” Gabe says with a small shrug. “I don’t know, maybe he’s magic.” Not much would surprise him at this point. The fact that they’re parked at the venue in Vancouver with a show to perform tonight feels stranger than all this werewolf and/or magic stuff.

The show. Damn it. Last Gabe checked, he only had a few hours before he needs to be on the stage. No rest for the heroes, clearly. They’ve got a job to do, and it doesn’t matter that they were all up late last night saving the lives of their friends. 

Gabe feels a headache coming on. Stress and exhaustion. He starts walking away from the bus. 

“You think they’re going to try to perform tonight?” Alex asks, catching up to Gabe. “Did Bill say anything--”

_Get out. Stay out._

“I don’t know.” Gabe plants a smile on his face. “Hey, you think I can have some of your blood for our show?”

Ryland laughs. “Oh, yeah, our extremely difficult and exhausting thirty minute set. Yeah, I’ve got you, Gabe.”

Gabe’s smile feels a bit more genuine now. 

“Can we, maybe, talk about something to eat that isn’t blood, please?” Alex says. He starts leading them back to the Cobra Starship bus. “Time’s all screwed up for me because of last night, and I don’t care what meal it is, but I would kill for anything good. No offense to your blood.”

“No hummus either,” Nate adds. 

Gabe gasps loud enough for Nate to hear. “You said you _like_ it! Were you lying?”

Ryland slaps Gabe’s shoulder. “Do you have any idea how many containers of hummus we have in the fridge?”

Gabe grins. 

Okay. This is good. Better. He needs space, time to clear his head. Everyone’s safe and now he needs to get his mind back into being the frontman of Cobra Starship. Bill will have his own space and his own time to be alone with his band.

But Gabe’s not going to stay away. For today, yeah. But he’s not going to let Bill push him away without an explanation. Not again. Not like last time. Gabe spent too long wondering what he might have done wrong. Working up the courage to try to get Bill alone, just so they could talk.

Bill is a mess. He’s frustrating. He doesn’t say what’s on his mind, he gives people the cold shoulder, and his words can fucking hurt. 

Gabe still loves him. He’s still going to try.


End file.
